The Placebo Case

The placebo case in my opinion, is a good example of the job duties and responsibilities you take on when you accept a public relations job. With this scenario I receive a call at 9:30 p.m. on a Sunday, which is not a time in which many have to deal with work. However with most public relations jobs you are forced to work irregular hours, weekends, and holidays. I am put under a lot of pressure, which I have to be able to handle and stay calm and composed. Public relations takes a lot of problem solving which is evident as you are faced with a difficult task and left to figure out how to handle it.

The second thing you must consider is the situation of this person. I am making barely enough to make important payments and I have a wife to support. I cannot afford to lose my job, or let the company go bankrupt. Whether what I am being

told to do conflicts with my morals and beliefs, or not cannot get in the way of the task at hand. This job is too important and when you take a job in public relations you have an obligation to put the needs of your company/client first.
Possibly a good way to deal with this problem would be to organize a press conference.

It should take place immediately or as soon as possible to avoid any further complications. A press conference would hopefully decrease the amount of individual inquiries made and I can make sure I can convey the exact information that I want to be shared to everyone. I would do what the company asks and explain to the public that there is a recall that is solely precautionary and that there is no reason to assume that any problem exists. It would also help to include that normal safety procedures are used on the line. At the end I would issue an apology to all affected by the recall, and state that the company is doing everything possible to ensure that these recalls will not happen again. I wouldn’t however bring up the thorough safety check from three weeks ago as it might be figured that medication had already been disbursed since that date. I would also want to take as few questions as possible however, and answer them with nearly what I had said in my statement unless the information asked would not tarnish the company's reputation in any

way.
Despite possibly withholding some information, it would be a bad idea to lie or make up any information. If I don’t tell the truth, the media will and that could make the problem even worse. It might even lead the public to believe that there is a crisis which would cause many more problems. This strategy would be more effective than a press release because I would be taking action for distributing the message and not delegate the message to be spread by the media.